Appetizers Recipes

Puff pastry knots is the easiest and fastest way to get some appetizers ready right before dinner. I usually make these appetizers whenever I have leftover puff pastry dough. Nothing goes to waste!

I made cheese twists a few months ago and wanted to try out some new flavors. Half of the crowd at my home is vegetarian so I gathered some of my meatless pantry staples like soy bacon bits and horseradish mustard to please everyone.

You won't see any potato pies on an approved list for the Atkins diet. Along with a fluffy puff pastry shell, you have layers of sweet tomato sauce and fried potatoes. But that's not all! Add to that a layer of crème fraîche and some cheese. The only green is the garlic chives. It may not be healthy, but it sure is delicious! If you're feeling guilty, pair the pies with a healthy green salad.

The procedure is very similar to the leek quiches I made a few months ago.

Smoked salmon is a very elegant ingredient to serve. It's slightly pricey but you don't need a whole lot to prepare a nice first entree.

I paired the salmon with a dill flavored cream cheese brightened with Meyer lemon juice and a fried wonton skin to add a little Asian flair and some crunch to the dish. Persian cucumbers are another nice contrast to the velvety texture of the smoked salmon.

The tarte tatin (upside-down tart) was originally made with caramelized apples. It was created by the Tatin sisters at the beginning of the century. The two demoiselles Tatin, Fanny and Caroline, ran a little eatary in a hotel in Sologne, in the countryside of France near Orleans. They were famous for their apple tarts. One day, one of the sisters clumsily forgot to place the puff pastry dough and put the caramelized apple layer first and that's how a fortunate mistake created the trendy dish.

A French way to make an onion confit would be with caramelized onions that were previously boiled in milk but I had some leftover curried pearl onions called do-pyaaza. It's cooked in a generous amount of ghee, yogurt and flavored with ginger-garlic paste and several Indian spices. My fusion result is called a tarte tatin de petits oignons perlés à l'Indienne.

The hard part of making pizza at home is preparing the dough, but with this recipe, you'll be making pizza all the time. The toppings for this pizza are olives, tomatoes and basil, but you can use whatever you like. That combination is popular at my home because my father is allergic to mushrooms. He can't eat the Mango Mushroom Pizza that I always prepare for our "pizza nights". The little one is obsessed with olives, so this one is her favorite as well.